


Cold Shoulder

by Marvinetta



Category: Terra Nova (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-06
Updated: 2011-12-06
Packaged: 2017-10-27 00:30:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/289588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marvinetta/pseuds/Marvinetta
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Domestic fic for established Wash/Taylor. "First major fight"</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cold Shoulder

**Author's Note:**

> Sequel to [Welcome to the Jungle](http://archiveofourown.org/works/278656) and [ Off Limits](http://archiveofourown.org/works/284943/chapters/454328), set several months after "Off Limits".

There were somethings that were expected of Alicia Washington. No one batted an eye when she showed up covered in mud, blood, or a combination of both. No one batted an eye when after sparring sessions she'd have a split lip or a bruised cheek. No one took any notice anymore when she yelled at Taylor in his office, the walls doing little to muffle her anger at something stupid he'd done. What did surprise people, especially Nathaniel Taylor, was when Alicia Washington changed tactics. The cold shoulder was a rarely used weapon, but it was generally effective.

She knew there was a betting pool. Jim Shannon had flat out told her she needed to forgive Taylor by the end of the week, and he'd give her half his winnings. Malcolm had made a similar offer on a different time frame. Brian was the only smart one who offered her a 60% share. She'd been sorely tempted, but Taylor was not making forgiving him easy.

The entire colony seemed enthralled with her choice of punishment. While she hadn't intended it to go this far, she was too stubborn to give in without him admitting he was wrong. Taylor was also clinging to his pride and refusing to give in, but it was clear the situation was grating on his nerves. It was eating him alive that everyone seemed to be rooting for her. The thought made her smile a little as she headed towards the gate.

“Your hair looks really nice today.” Taylor was suddenly next to her, standing a bit farther than normal. “I like that you're letting it grow out.”

She raised an eyebrow at him and went back to looking out the gate. He huffed and shifted closer to her. He was fidgeting with the closure on his holster. Shannon walked up right as Taylor was gearing up to say something else.

“Morning Commander. Wash.” Jim gave them a blindly cheerful smile. “What's going on? You two talking again yet?”

“The convoy is running late. They checked in on schedule, but they should have been in by now.” Taylor gave Wash another searching look. “Lieutenant, would you please go ask Adams to try and get them on comms again?”

“Yes, sir.” Wash nodded and headed towards the command center. She could hear Jim laughing as Taylor muttered something. The only time she'd spoken to Taylor in two weeks was when it was required by her job, and even then she gave the bare minimum.

It had started out simple. Brian was going OTG, to study the smaller mammals they'd been encountering, with a small science team for a month. With the recent spike in Sixer activity and dinosaur attacks, all the teams going OTG had to have a security detail. Since Wash had the most experience dealing with rodents, and hadn't been OTG for than a few days since her accident, she'd volunteered. Taylor had actually laughed in her face and wrote in Reilly's name. She hadn't completely lost her temper until he'd opened his mouth.

“Like I'm going to sign off on you spending a month in a tent with Dullaney.”

She'd seen red. By the time Taylor had looked up from signing the paperwork, Wash was half way to the door. She'd ignored all his calls for her to come back, and thankfully he hadn't made it an order. When he'd come by for dinner that night, she'd locked the door and pretended not to hear him. The next morning he'd been polite and apologized for not letting her go on the mission.

“That's not even why I'm pissed off, you insensitive shit stain. ” Those had been the last words she'd spoken to him that weren't answers to a direct order.

It had taken a couple days before Taylor realized she wasn't going to just let it go. He'd started falling back on courtship gestures to try and apologize. When he'd left flowers on her porch, Wash had taken to them to the hospital and divided it up among the patients there. When he'd left a bottle of scotch on her porch, she took it to the Shannon house and gotten shitfaced with Elisabeth. When Taylor had brought her hangover coffee the next morning, she'd poured it out over the command center balcony.

After that, he'd started paying her compliments. Trying to lure her into conversation with topics she loved to ramble out. By that point, everyone knew something was wrong between them. People didn't know what to do at first, so they gave both their Commander and their Lieutenant a wide birth. After the first week had passed, talk of the betting pool had surfaced, and people were trying to persuade Wash into letting Taylor apologize.

“You know, it might help if you tell him why you're angry.” Brian leaned against the command center balcony where Wash was glaring at the back of Taylor's head. She'd finally talked to Reynolds over comms and was just waiting for the convoy to clear the jungle.

“If he can't figure it out, he's too stupid to have me.” Wash relaxed her grip on the railing as the convoy came into view.

“He's really trying. He's going out of his way to show he's sorry and you've dismissed it every time. What are you going to do if he stops?” Brian gave her a pleading look and Wash practically growled at him.

“Do you even know why I'm angry at him?” She turned and tucked her hands in her pockets to keep from gesturing wildly.

“I have a feeling it has to do with him denying your request to go OTG with the science team.” Shrugging, Brian gave her another worried look. “Considering what happened last time, I don't blame him.”

“That's not what it is.” Grabbing his arm, she tugged him into the command center. She noted Taylor's unhappy face and knew she had to talk fast. Closing the door she lowered her voice. “He didn't want me going with you.”

“That's understandable, too.” Brian gave her an incredulous look. “He's got a track record of being possessive. And given our history, I can see why he wouldn't want you to go.”

“That's bullshit, it's a trust issue.” Hissing as she heard Taylor's steps on the balcony, Wash struggled to remove all the emotion from her face.

“Well, I think you're being stubborn.” Brian said in a tone that would no doubt carry to Taylor.

“It's one of her more endearing traits.” Pushing the door open, Taylor tilted his head towards the gate. “Reynolds wants to talk to you.”

Without a word, Wash slipped past him, trying not to touch him. She tried to ignore the defeated look on his face as well. He _was_ trying, and now thanks to Brian she was starting to feel bad for not appreciating his efforts. She could happily shoot them both.

Reynolds gave his report in a dry tone, exhaustion clearly evident in his posture. For once they hadn't had issues with Mira, or wildlife, but instead with mechanical failure. The rovers were incredibly heavy, and getting one unstuck from a mud pit with just manpower was a feat that would earn Reynolds a few days leave.

“Good job, Mark. Go get cleaned up and relax. I'll make sure the rover gets looked at.” Squeezing his arm she turned to leave.

“Permission to speak freely, ma'am?” Reynolds was looking at his feet and Wash knew what he wanted to talk about. She debated telling him 'no', but the intent look on her face made her relent.

“Why not, everyone else is.” Leaning against the rover, she braced herself.

“I don't know what happened between you and the Commander, and it's none of my business. But I think you should know the betting pool is starting to crumble because everyone's worried. It's been two weeks and you two are still acting weird. You're clearly unhappy, and it's weird to see the Commander depressed.” Reynolds was keeping his voice low as he talked and was tense like he was expecting to be yelled at any moment. “If you guys are over for good, you need to tell someone because right now everyone's still hopeful that things will go back to normal.”

“We're not -” Wash bit off the rest of the sentence and glared at Reynolds. “You just made my list of people I want to shoot today.”

Turning around, Wash headed back up the stairs of the command center. She'd been so busy being angry she hadn't stopped to think that things could end. Making that thought all the more realistic, Mary Anderson was heading towards the building with a plate of baked goods. If the woman was willing to make another play for the Commander, then clearly it must look really bleak between her and Taylor.

“Sorry Dr. Anderson, we're about to go into a meeting. You can drop those off later.” Wash didn't even feel bad about the lie. Brian came out of the command center and gave her an encouraging smile as they passed on the stairs.

“Do you know where I'd find Corporal Reilly this time of day? I've been told to start giving her information so she can plan my security detail.” Brian smiled at Wash, and then at Mary who was gripping her plate so tightly it was a surprise it didn't break.

“Probably up in Tower Three. If not, check the barracks, someone should know where she is.” Wash finished climbing the stairs with one last glare to Mary Anderson. The petite doctor was still at the bottom of the steps, glaring hatefully up at her.

“Why don't you walk with me, Mary? There's still room in the science excursion if you'd like to join us.” Brian steered the other scientist away from the Commander Center despite the woman's polite protests. Wash gave him a grateful smile.

Staring at the closed door to Taylor's office, Wash took a few deep breaths. It wasn't like she was entirely swallowing her pride, but it did feel a bit like defeat. When she knocked and stepped into the room, Taylor looked up with a sad expression before going back to his work.

“Something I can help you with, Lieutenant?” Taylor sounded tired. Wash smoothed her shirt down. He gave her a cautious look when she didn't say anything immediately. He lowered a plex pad to his desk and leaned back.

“We need to talk.” Coming into the room, Wash grabbed a chair and put down in front of his desk. “I thought that the one thing we would always have between us is trust. After all the shit we've been through, and all the secrets we keep for each other, I assumed that trust would be the one constant.”

“That hasn't changed, Wash.” Taylor made a move to stand and Wash waved him back down.

“Let me talk, dammit.” She waited until he was back in his chair before continuing. “What we do doesn't just affect us. It's been made clear to me today that how we treat each other affects the colony. It's selfish of me to keep this up and drag it out. If you can't trust me, this needs to end.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” For the first time in two weeks he actually sounded angry. “I've trusted you with my life for the better part of a decade. You know damn well there's no one in this colony I trust more than you.”

“Then why won't you let me go on the Science mission?” Wash watched emotions flicker across his face until it settled on understanding.

“That's what this is about.” He rubbed a hand across his face and stood up. Coming around the desk he crouched down in front of her chair. “It's not lack of trust, it's fear. You nearly died last time you went out there. And even when I can get past that, I don't like Dullaney. I don't want to risk you going out there and realizing you made the wrong choice.”

“You're an idiot.” Feeling the anger leaving her, Wash burst into laughter. Taylor glared at her and started to stand up. Grabbing his holster, she pulled him in and kissed him roughly. Just as he started kissing her back, she pushed him far enough away to look at him. “Clearly no one is supplying you with gossip in my absence.”

“What does that have to do with anything?” With a sigh, Taylor rubbed his hand against the small of her back, trying to pull her back in.

“Brian's sleeping with Andrea Pembridge. From the hospital? It's been going on for months, he's thinking of proposing.” Leaning forward she kissed his forehead and tried to stand up.

“I am an idiot.” Taylor let out a huge sigh and pushed her back into the chair. Framing her face in his hands he gave her a self-deprecating smile. “I'm sorry, Alicia.”

“I am, too.” Leaning in, she kissed him again and let him pull her out of the chair. With a noise of confusion, Wash grabbed his shoulders as he lifted her into the air. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Getting more comfortable.” Depositing her on the edge of his desk, he tugged off his holster and tossed into his chair. Once it was out of the way, he pulled her body flush against him. Tugging on her hair, Taylor kissed a line from her ear to the top her jacket. “So are you over your mad? Or will I be eating in the mess hall still?”

“I think I can find a second place setting.” Smiling as he slipped a hand under her shirt, Wash went to work on his belt buckle.

“We're not having sex on my desk.” Taylor squeezed her hips in warning, but smiled lazily at her as she slipped both hands into his pants.

“I think my current clothing and over abundance of weaponry makes that idea logistically problematic.” Squeezing him and smirking at his low groan, she leaned into bite at his lower lip. “Now if I wore a dress, it might make things a bit easier.”

“You're a bad influence.” Resting his head on her shoulder, and trailing his fingers along her ribs, he groaned as her fingers worked around him. She wrapped her legs around him to keep him close and nibbled on his ear, enjoying the sounds and feel of him after a two-week break.

“Commander, is your meeting over? I have some of those peanut butter - oh my goodness.” The sound of a plate shattering on the floor made Wash freeze. Opening her eyes she glared at Mary Anderson who was standing stone still in the doorway. Making matters worse, Jim Shannon appeared a few seconds later and gave her a thumbs up when he realized what he'd walked on in.

“It's polite to knock before you barge into a room.” Wash tried to sound as authoritative as possible. It was hard since she could feel Taylor trying not to laugh against her throat.

“We'll let you get back to your, uh, meeting.” Jim gave her a brilliant smile as he pulled Mary from the room. “Sorry for the intrusion.”

The door closed quietly, and Wash shook her head. She could feel the embarrassment on her face. Taylor gave a snort of laughter and raised his face to look at her. As he opened his mouth, she gave a warning squeeze, reminding him of where her hands were. He winced a bit but kept smiling.

“Not a damn word.” Pulling her hands out of his pants she started to re-button his fly.

“Sure you don't want to finish what you started? I figure no one will dare come in here for a few hours. That'll give me enough time to work my way into all those layers.” He punctuated his sentence by unsnapping her thigh holster.

“Now who's the bad influence?” Leaning back on the desk, she smiled as he started undoing her belt.


End file.
